Whereas the ongoing shortage of labour in Ambulance Services throughout rural BC is prevalent in most communities outside of large urban centres; And whereas BC Emergency Health Services BCEHS ambulance service is a vital component of life safety and access to healthcare for those who live and work in small rural communities, which are often a significant distance from fully-equipped hospitals: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the Province of BC to provide funding for increased wages and training opportunities to assist with recruiting and retention of workers in the BCEHS.
Ministry of Health Wages and benefits for ambulance paramedics and dispatchers are negotiated through the collective bargaining process. The 2019-2022 Ambulance Paramedics and Ambulance Dispatchers Bargaining Association APADBA collective agreement expired on March 31, 2022. On October 3, 2022, collective bargaining to negotiate a renewed agreement between APADBA and the Health Employers Association of BC, the accredited bargaining agent for public sector health employers, got underway. In June 2022, a temporary pay incentive was put in place to help bridge staffing challenges, bolster paramedic coverage, and improve service levels in 26 smaller rural and remote communities. This temporarily incentive concluded on October 21, 2022, with a positive impact in some of the hardest-to-staff areas of the province. Before the original incentive program was set to expire, BCEHS and Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers Association of BC CUPE 873 CUPE 873, with assistance from government, collaborated on a more robust temporary pay incentive program to help ensure people in rural and remote communities provincewide, have access to the emergency pre-hospital care they need. This incentive was put in place on October 22, 2022, and will remain in place until BCEHS and CUPE 873 have a new collective agreement in place. Negotiations for a new collective agreement began on October 3, 2022.